Magnesium
Magnesium a must for Lyme patients
// Filed in: Lyme Disease Treatment|Lyme Disease Research
Magnesium for reducing inflammation
If you have Lyme disease, you have silent inflammation.
It is highly likely that you are also deficient in magnesium, because the Lyme bacteria, Borrelia, unlike other bacteria that require iron to survive, has evolved to use magnesium to complete its own life cycle.
The Lyme bacteria steals magnesium from our cells to survive.
Another factor contributing to the problem, for Americans at least, is that our farming topsoil has been depleted in magnesium which is not replaced. So our foods tend to be deficient in magnesium, which is problematic.
Magnesium supplements have been clinically proven to reduce pain and inflammation from fibromyalgia and other autoimmune diseases. As Lyme is an inflammatory disease, it makes sense to pay attention to something as simple as adding in a vital mineral.
Increasing magnesium levels through diet or supplements may be even more crucial for people with Lyme, because not only does the Lyme bacteria rob us of magnesium, so does stress—both physical and psychological or emotional—as well as the use of antibiotics.
If you have Lyme, you are likely familiar with experiencing stress on every level. One of the main complaints addressed by magnesium is anxiety, and reducing mental stress is a critical first step in healing.
Magnesium deficiency same as Lyme symptoms
Many of the symptoms of magnesium deficiency are the same ones associated with Lyme disease, such as irregular heartbeat, anxiety, insomnia, restlessness, muscle cramps and spasms, and joint health.
Other problems stemming from a lack of magnesium are arthritis, heart disease, hardening of the arteries, and calcification.
Magnesium deficiency shares another aspect with Lyme disease.
Tests are highly unreliable. Here’s why. This vital mineral is located throughout the body and functions in every cell, including those in our brain. Only about 1% of magnesium is in our blood. Yet the test for magnesium deficiency is a blood serum test.
Magnesium can alter the course of health — and disease
Magnesium research over the past 40 years tells us that this essential mineral is far more vital to our health—physically and psychologically—than was previously assumed.
Fibromyalgia patients treated with magnesium malate have been clinically demonstrated to experience a reduction in pain.
According to a recent study published the journal BMC Bioinformatics, magnesium is essential to altering the course of health and disease.
Major body functions requiring magnesium
Our bodies use magnesium to perform thousands of biochemical functions that contribute to good health—at the top of the list is a good night’s sleep and regulation of the heartbeat.
Nerve function, blood sugar control, blood pressure regulation, energy metabolism, protein synthesis, and production of the antioxidant glutathione are just a handful of the major functions that require magnesium.
It is easy to get more magnesium in your diet by eating magnesium-rich foods and also by taking a magnesium supplement. Magnesium baths also increase levels through the skin. Ask your doctor about the best way for you.
Calcium and magnesium are both necessary
Calcium and magnesium work together like two sides of the same coin. Yet modern medicine has fixated on the role and importance of calcium, even though getting too much calcium is problematic.
In addition to fibromyalgia patients, increased magnesium has shown benefits to those suffering with atrial fibrillation, Diabetes type 2, cardiovascular disease, premenstrual syndrome, and migraines.
Low magnesium levels are also associated with cardiovascular aging, which contributes to premature aging.
Magnesium is an essential part of the delicate balance of our health. Taking a magnesium supplement or eating foods rich in magnesium helps create the right amount of calcium in the body. Yet, calcium supplements taken without magnesium can actually deplete magnesium in the body.
What depletes magnesium?
Pharmaceutical drugs, antibiotics, stress, whether psychological or physical, depletes magnesium in the body.
Same with caffeine, so be aware that if you have a habit of drinking coffee or tea in the morning, one of the reasons behind your afternoon crash is that the caffeine has depleted your necessary magnesium levels. Drinking yet another cup of coffee is probably not the best way to wake up.
Nor is reaching for a candy bar or anything with sugar. Fizzy sodas and pop drinks contain phosphates which bind with magnesium and flush it out through the kidneys.
“Anti-nutrients” such as sugary drinks, candy bars, cookies, cakes, and pastries tank the level of magnesium in the body as well.
Having a Vitamin D deficiency contributes to a loss of magnesium.
Alcoholic drinks, if taken seven times or more per week, also flush magnesium out through the kidneys.
Exercise and sweating depletes magnesium. Magnesium is controlled by the kidneys and excreted daily.
How do you know if you’ve got too much? Your body will naturally let you know. Too much magnesium can cause diarrhea as your body rids itself of the excess mineral.
Foods rich in magnesium
You can take a supplement, but the easiest fix is to start eating foods that contain magnesium to see if you feel an increase in energy. Look for vegetables high in chlorophyl, such as dark leafy greens—chard and spinach contain magnesium.
So do pumpkin seeds, yogurt, kefir, beans and other legumes such as black-eyed peas. Artichoke, almonds, avocado, goat cheese, figs, dark chocolate, and banana are some other foods that contain this miracle-worker mineral.
Further References:
https://www.newsmax.com/fastfeatures/magnesium-deficiency-lyme-disease/2016/07/11/id/738173/
https://www.everydayhealth.com/pictures/foods-high-in-magnesium/#05
https://www.amazon.com/Magnesium-Miracle-Revised-Updated/product-reviews/034549458X/ref=cm_cr_dp_synop?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=recent#R1L09DW10O2WDF